{"id":37713,"date":"2024-11-19T13:02:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T21:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=37713"},"modified":"2024-11-19T13:26:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T21:26:10","slug":"michael-moore-we-are-not-a-good-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/19\/michael-moore-we-are-not-a-good-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Moore:  &#8220;We are not a good people.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30-1024x666.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30-1024x666.png 1024w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30-150x98.png 150w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30-768x500.png 768w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30-231x150.png 231w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/image-30.png 1242w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I Mean, How Bad Can It Really Be? Oh. That Bad. by Michael Moore<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Surely it\u2019s nothing that a show-tune or two can\u2019t fix!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michaelmoore.com\/p\/i-mean-how-bad-can-it-really-be-oh\">Read on Substack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Michael Moore: \u2018Recharge, Reboot and Be the Anti-Trump\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/obrag.org\/author\/source\/\">SOURCE<\/a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;NOVEMBER 14, 2024&nbsp;\u00b7&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/obrag.org\/2024\/11\/michael-moore-recharge-reboot-and-be-the-anti-trump\/#comments\">5 COMMENTS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/obrag.org\/category\/election-2008\/\">ELECTION<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/obrag.org\/category\/health-care-reform\/\">HEALTH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/obrag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Michael-Moore-recent.jpg?resize=280%2C168&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-292393\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Hey, If You Can Kill 20 Million Native Americans, Enslave 12 Million Africans, and Let Biden Fund the Slaughter of 40,000 Women, Children and Elderly\u2026<br>\u2014 Of Course You Can Install a Rapist\/Felon\/Fascist as your President! In the Meantime, Breathe, Take Care of Yourself, Read a Good Book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>By Michael Moore<\/strong>&nbsp;\/ Nov 14, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you stop and think about it, we\u2019ve come up with a lot of doozies in our history. Like the genocide of 20 million Native Americans. Or the enslavement of 12 million kidnapped Africans. Or us invading Vietnam and killing 4 million Asian people for no reason at all. We are not a good people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have a non-stop cavalcade, a sordid laundry list of evil deeds that led us directly to last week, to the point where we the people, by popular vote, elected a 34-time convicted felon, a fascist, and a civilly-charged and convicted sexual abuser to be our 47th president of the United States. And we did so after he clearly and quite honestly warned us that he was going to do a mass round-up and deportation of nearly 15 million people. And that he would consider executing people he referred to as \u201cthe enemy within\u201d (i.e. his political opponents and those who were disloyal to him).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s possible that history may be kinder to us if, next time, the working class doesn\u2019t see our candidate campaigning with Wall Street billionaires. Or having to watch the campaign celebrate being endorsed by war criminals. And not having our side enthusiastically funding and arming the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent women, children and elderly in a land we call \u201cHoly\u201d in the months leading up to an election where we are seeking to defeat someone who \u201cadmires\u201d Hitler\u2019s generals. Oh \u2014 and we commit to getting just 1% more of our people who voted with us last time, to vote with us next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until then, here are my suggestions of other things for each of us to do, in our own personal time, to recharge, reboot, and revitalize our spirit before we head back into the fray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Be the Anti-Trump.<\/strong>&nbsp;Make a simple commitment to yourself to do the three things that Trump never does and has proven he never will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Practice Kindnes<\/strong>s. The first step in counteracting Trump\u2019s crusade of cruelty, hatred, bigotry, misogyny, ignorance and fear is for each of us, in our daily lives, to be kind. To live by the ancient code of Philo: \u201cBe kind, for everyone you encounter is quietly carrying a great burden.\u201d And to paraphrase something Jesse Jackson once explained to me: Ignorance and prejudice create a paralyzing and irrational, out-of-control Fear. Fear of \u201cthe Other.\u201d Fear of the Different. Fear of the New. And Fear leads to Hate. And Hate leads to Violence. So in order not to end up with Violence, ignorance and stupidity must be the first to go.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So, perform at least one act of kindness each day. You will instantly make a small piece of this world a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Listen. Especially listen to women.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Read. Books.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;<strong>Join something<\/strong>. Anything. Being in community is a radical act.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Those in power know that one of the key components of staying in power is to divide people because when the people get together, well, it never seems to turn out well for those in power. So right away, simply deciding to join with others \u2014 for any reason \u2014 is one of the purest acts of Democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I\u2019m serious, join anything. A knitting circle. A darts team. Your local HRC, ACLU, BLM, or any one of a number of social justice groups. Neighborhood clean-up. Food bank. Community theater. Over-50 hockey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of which state of grief any of us are in, nothing beats being with other humans. And by coming together \u2014 even if it\u2019s just to make a quilt \u2014 it is during gatherings like these that somebody randomly comes up with an idea, and two other people pile on with their ideas, and before you know it, you have the beginnings of a new First People\u2019s Cultural Center in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Take care of yourself<\/strong>. We need strength to fight. It\u2019s really that simple. And for us to win, really win, this will require 100% of our body, mind and soul. So\u2026 Drink tea. Listen to music. Go snowshoeing. Eat ice cream. Rest, on a shoulder. Randomly just start singing The Beatles\u2019 \u201cLet It Be\u201d \u2014 right now. Don\u2019t wait, just sing. \u201cWhen I find myself in times of trouble\u2026\u201d Practice gratitude. Get a pedicure. Notice birds. Do standing push-ups against a closet door. Cross the river into Canada \u2014 with no clue as to why you\u2019re there. (Pro Tip: Call home and announce you\u2019ve left the country.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Get some real new<\/strong>s. Go outside the mainstream media. There\u2019s all kinds of journalism these days \u2014 dangerous muckrakers, investigative humorists, fearless instigators, unbought and unrepentant writers \u2014 find them. Embrace it. Read it. Watch it. Listen to it:&nbsp;<em>ProPublica. The Guardian. Ha\u2019aretz. CBC nightly news \u201cThe National.\u201d Labor Notes. John Oliver. Current Affairs. BBC NewsNight. The Chris Hedges Report on Substack. Ayman on MSNBC. Drop Site News. A Closer Look on Seth Meyers. The Lever. Hammer &amp; Hope. More Perfect Union. The Katie Halper Show. Night School with Marc Lamont Hill. \u201cCitations Needed\u201d. Jewish Currents. Al-Jazeera English<\/em>. [&nbsp;<strong><em>and the OB Rag<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Start there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Make this pledge<\/strong>: I will be the first to stand for __________. Migrants who\u2019ve come to this land. The unjustly incarcerated. The Palestinians who are being erased. The books I want my daughter to read \u2014 especially at 8 years old. The frightened Trans kid who sees political ads on TV warning the world that he is the monster.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Live your life by doing good for those who have the least among u<\/strong>s.(I\u2019m guessing this needs no further explanation.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Breathe. Hydrate. Rinse. Repeat.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Forgive someone.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Just because you know you should. Because it\u2019s been too long. Because it\u2019s the right thing to do. You will give this person a sense of redemption and they are likely to do the same for others. It will make you feel better about yourself. It will eliminate stress inside you from the simple act of letting go. The release itself will create its own healing. And the example you set will bring more forgiveness in the family and community around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Laughter. Comedy. Wit. Satire.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s the best medicine, the biggest high, the most effective vehicle for you to use to communicate your ideas and to create change. People like to laugh and they\u2019ll listen to you better if you let them enjoy being with you.\u00a0Sometimes when the moment we\u2019re in or the facts that we\u2019re facing are just too god-awful to handle, that\u2019s exactly when a spoonful of sugar helps this bitter pill go down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/obrag.org\/\">obrag.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I Mean, How Bad Can It Really Be? Oh. That Bad. by Michael Moore Surely it\u2019s nothing that a show-tune or two can\u2019t fix! Read on Substack Michael Moore: \u2018Recharge, Reboot and Be the Anti-Trump\u2019 by&nbsp;SOURCE&nbsp;on&nbsp;NOVEMBER 14, 2024&nbsp;\u00b7&nbsp;5 COMMENTS in&nbsp;ELECTION,&nbsp;HEALTH Hey, If You Can Kill 20 Million Native Americans, Enslave&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/19\/michael-moore-we-are-not-a-good-people\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37713"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37719,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37713\/revisions\/37719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}